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Once a week, a San Antonio courtroom sees cases only involving animals. The city launched the effort, believed to be the only one of its kind in the U.S., after officials deemed local courts weren't paying enough attention to animal-related infractions, including dog bites, free-roaming animals and residents not registering their pets.

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Several years of additional training are required to become a veterinary specialist, writes veterinary oncologist Gerald Post. He outlines the expertise of several specialty disciplines: oncology, cardiology, internal medicine and neurology.

Gloria, a 30-year-old white-cheeked gibbon at a Rhode Island zoo, has been moving more slowly than normal and veterinarians have not yet determined the cause of her ailment, despite conducting a spinal tap and MRIs. While Gloria has surpassed her expected lifespan of 28 years, the white-cheeked gibbon is a critically endangered species, leaving zoo staff eager to diagnose and treat her condition.

In the last year, some 41,000 ostriches have been culled in South Africa due to an H5N2 avian influenza outbreak, dealing a major blow to the country's ostrich industry, which includes about 20,000 jobs in the city of Oudtshoorn. Though the influenza strain does not threaten human health, experts worry H5N2 could mutate and affect poultry flocks. Financial losses related to the virus are estimated at $13 million per month.

An antibiotic-resistant strain of staph bacteria identified in cattle in 2003 likely stemmed from an antibiotic-sensitive version of the same germ that grew resistant in livestock that were overexposed to antibiotics. Now, new research shows the resistant strains of MRSA may be easily spread from livestock to humans. About 20,000 Americans die from MRSA complications each year, more than the number who die from AIDS.

University of Texas at Austin neurobiology professor George Bittner's research identified a means to rapidly repair acute nerve injury. Using a combination of microsurgery and chemicals, Bittner and colleagues re-established motor function in rats whose sciatic nerves were severed. In the study, paralyzed rats were able to move their legs several minutes after treatment.